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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Politics & government fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about politics & government. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

12,754 published reviews in this topic

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaPolitics & government

FACT CHECK: පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී අනුර කුමාර, ජොන්ස්ටන්ට බැන්නද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined a social-media video presented as showing JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake telling Roads Minister Johnston Fernando, “Johnston, shut up, you’re crazy,” during a parliamentary sitting. It says that this insult does not appear in the live parliamentary footage from April 23. The video’s circulation and the specific words attributed to Dissanayake are described in the review’s account of the post being checked. The review says the footage instead shows a heated exchange when Dissanayake was speaking about an anti-corruption commission. The members interrupting him were Amal Chinthaka Mayadunna and D. Weerasinghe; Dissanayake is described as turning to address them. The review points readers to the parliamentary footage and to other camera angles, and says a Sirasa news segment also showed the interruptions. These details identify a different target for the confrontation than the minister named in the viral claim. The review adds that Dissanayake referred to Johnston as being in a difficult position because of the MPs, rather than directing the viral insult at him. It notes that Johnston was seated on the government side, opposite Dissanayake, while Mayadunna and Weerasinghe were seated behind Dissanayake on the same side. The review’s conclusion is that the posts misled viewers by attributing the confrontation to Johnston.